Google Compute Engine Lowers Charges

Google soft-launched its Google Compute Engine infrastructure-as-a-service cloud offering back in May, but it remains a niche offering compared to AWS and Azure. Will a cut in pricing and new Linux distribution options change that?

Google has lowered pricing on its standard instances by 10 per cent in both US and European regions. It has also eliminated IO charges for its Persistent Disk storage options, and dropped storage charges from 10 US cents per GB per month to 4 US cents per GB per month. However, data transfer charges to move information from Australia to any region remain much higher than for US and European customers. Australians pay between 15 and 21 US cents per GB, compared to a range of 8 to 12 US cents for customers located in the hosting regions.

The original version of Compute Engine only supported Debian and Centos. Google now says any Linux distribution can be used, with support offered for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE and FreeBSD. Hit the announcement post for more details on the new offering.